Sheet registering system for printing presses and the like



May 17, 1960 P. w. LAYDEN SHEET REGISTERING SYSTEM FOR PRINTING PRESSES AND THE LIKE Filed April 6, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvmon PAUL W A var/v May 17 1960 P W. LAYDEN SHEET REGISTERING SYSTEM FOR PRINTING PRESSES AND THE LIKE Filed April 6, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 R m w m Bow. WZAmE/v A'ITO EY May 17, 1960 P. w. LAYDEN SHEET REGISTERING svs'rzu FOR PRINTING PRESSES AND THE LIKE Filed April 6, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTO EY May 17, 1960 P. w. LAYDEN SHEET REGISTERING SYSTEM FOR PRINTING PRESSES AND THE LIKE Filed April 6, 1956 4 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 w Q i f/IN G INVENTOR I A UL Z A YDE/V f ATI'O May 17, 1960 P. w. LAYDEN SHEET REGISTERING SYSTEM FOR PRINTING PRESSES AND THE LIKE Filed April 6, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR PAUL W ZAYDEN D E POSITION 0F FRONT GUIDE ROLLER ARM ATTO United States Patent vSHEET'REGISTERING SYSTEMFOR PRINTING PRESSES AND THE LIKE The present invention relates to sheet registering systems for printing'presses and the like and more particularly to novel and improved apparatus for registering a plurality of paper sheets .in rapid successionand then transferring the sheets to the gripper roll of a printingpress in accurately aligned relation to the gripper roll.

More specifically, the present invention seeks an im- "proved means for incorporation with a sheet feeding'systern of .the general type contemplated, whereby-individual sheets of paper fed in overlapped or streamfeed relation vtoward a printing press or similar device may be accu- 2 provide sheet registering means of thecharacter described which will accurately align the sheets in both .theside or transverse direction and head or longitudinaldirection with respect to a printing plate prior to the sheets entering the press. .This object .is accomplished in the present instance by means of, moving mechanical elements having primarily rotary or uni-directional movement'as distinguishedfrom reciprocating movement'which has been the greatest limitingfactor in the speed of-operation of prior art devices. The front guidesQfor aligning the sheets in thelongitudinal direction aremounted-on a movable carrier whichhaspredominantly a uniform rotary motion. Such front guides and head registering devices are preferably clamps which may be opened or closed at the desired time during the registering operation to insure proper "alignment of the sheet with the-printing plate. The present invention, however, (also provides a novel method of controlling the instantaneous relative movement of the front guides with respect to the carrier whereby an optimum cycle of movement-of the guides and clamps with respect to the sheets traveling in stream- "eedrelation, is effective to complete the registering and transfer ofthe sheets to the gripper roll of the printing rately aligned or registered with a printing ,plate prior to 7 being fed into the press. In many types of printing operations, particularly in .multi-color printing, wherein "sheets are fed into a press a number of times with a .different color being applied in each instance, it is necessary't'hat the sheets be substantially in exact .registry with theprintin'g plate, lest there be noticeable overlaps and voids in the color scheme, resulting in. most instances in a completely unacceptable final product. There are, 'of course, many devices which have been advanced in the prior art for registering sheets prior to transferring the -same into the press, but these are limited in speed of operation and are therefore unsatisfactory .for use with higher speed sheet feeding systems; such as the one dis *closed in my United States Patent No. 2,714,006.

In most instances the prior art devices have provided for retractable front guides positioned directly in 'the'line of sheet travel before the printing press gripper roll. As the sheet is advanced toward the press, it hits the front guides and is brought suddenly to a complete stop, at which time, side registering is performed by anyexp'edient manner or mechanism so that the sheet is .in transverse alignment with the printing plate. When the registry .is "completed, "clamp l ike'members, usually called grippers, mounted 'onthe gripper roll of the .p'ress, engage the for- Ward end of the sheet while the front guides Iare'being moved out of the Way and .then move the same into the press. It is readily apparent that this sequence of operations is somewhat "limited in obtaining any degree of speed as the paper is first subjected to an abrupt stop and then very rapid acceleration 'which 'causes many defects in the alignment of the sheets with the plate. When the paper sheets traveling at a high degree of speed hit the front guides, they have a tendency to bounce .back and the rapid acceleration tends to buckle the sheets.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide-a sheet registering and transferring "system for stream-feeding sheets to a printing press where the system may be operated at higher rates of speed th anhas heretofore been proposed, thus utilizing substantially the full capacity of the-printing press. It is another object of the invention to provide a sheet registering and transferring system for carrying out high speed registry and transfer of sheets being fed toward a printing ,press that substantially mitigates t'he problems encountered in more conventional systems. i

important object of thepresent invention "is to press. I 7

Yet another object of theinvention is the provision of head registering means having the characteristics :out-

lined above where two successive registering operations are performed on "the sheet prior to transferring the-same to "the printing press. ,The first registering operation,

hereinafter called pre-registraticn, isoperative to move the sheet into general-alignment with the printing press while the second. distinct registering operation completes .the movement of the sheet so that it is in exact registry with the printingplate. ln thjis-manner, anymisalignment of decrease in velocity'befo're stopping completely for registering and shifting operations.

It is anotherfobject of the invention to provide newa'nd novel means'for transferring the sheets to the gripper roll of the printing press which is controlled by the movement of the front guidestogr'ip the forward edge of the sheet after it has been registered. Thismeans, consisting of clamps carried by the front guides, is operative 'to grip the sheet after final registry and to release the same when the paper reaches the gripper roll of the press. During ,the'time'the clamps hold the sheet, it is accelerated to a speed which is indirect synchronism with the speed of the gripper roll in order that "the transfer is completed without the sheet becoming misaligned.

Yet a more particular object of the invention is to provide for improved side registering means which is operative to cooperate with the head registering apparatus described above to properly register and align the sheets buckling or misalignment of the sheetsbeing fed to the printing press.

Theabove and .other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of Patented May 11,1960

Figure 4 is an inside elevation of one of the cam and valving plates of the machine of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an end view of a mounting collar;

Figures 6 and 7 are side and front views, respectively, of one of the pivotally mounted head guides utilized in the assembly shown in Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along the section line VIIIVIII of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a side sectional view of the front guides and registering apparatus of Figure 3 taken along the section line IX-IX with the periphery of the cam plate marked with letters to designate different steps in the operation of the device; and

Figure 10 is a graph depicting the relative velocity of one of the head guides plotted against the position of the extending roller arm with reference to the points lettered in Figure 9.

Referring now to the drawing and initially to Figure 1 thereof, there is illustrated a sheet feeding system comprising broadly the conventional elements including a pile 10 of stacked paper sheets, sheet separating means 11, feeding device 12, conveyor 13, side register 14, front guide and transferring mechanism 15, and the printing press 16, the latter being represented merely by a sheet gripping roll 17, as shown. In the preferred sheet feeding system, the feeding device 12 is of the type shown and described in my United States Patent No. 2,714,066, wherein a plurality of sheet engaging suckers 18 rotate generally about an axis 19, subject, however, to the modifyingaction which is effected by the cam 20 in such a manner that a portion of the suckers 18 are in sheet engaging position while the rest of the suckers, designated by the reference numeral 18, are being accelerated and rapidly returned to sheet engaging relation with the pile of sheets 10. In accordance with the teaching of my prior invention the suckers 18 are preferably of the telescoping type whereby a cup is moved downwardly to engage the top sheet of the pile 10 and is then drawn upwardly with a sheet. After the sheet has been moved forwardly a short distance, the next succeeding sucker engages the next sheet and in this manner a continuous stream of such sheets is fed in overlapped relation to the conveyor 13.

Depending primarily upon the width of the sheets, either one or a plurality of the feeding devices 12 may be used to feed the sheets in overlapped relation, it being understood that when more than one unit is employed, they are perfectly synchronized, preferably driven from the same shaft.

In the illustrated embodiment I provide means for initially separating the sheets and this is shown to be of the type disclosed in my'co-pending patent application, Serial No. 392,110, filed November 16, 1953, now US. Patent No; 2,874,962, wherein the nozzle 21 has a supply conduit 22 communicating with a source of compressed air, not shown, for fluffing or separating the rear edge portions of the sheets. Positioned directly above the pile 10, adjacent each corner thereof, and disposed generally at right angles with the axis of sheet movement are suction wheels 23 which are driven at a high speed and are operative to buckle the rear corners of the top sheet on the pile 10. In accordance with the teachings of my co-pending application, above identified, it may be desirable to provide other separating apparatus, not shown, to insure the proper operation of the feeder device 12 in feeding a continuous stream of overlapped sheets to the conveyor 13.

To convey the overlapped sheets from the feeding device 12 toward the registering mechanisms 14 and 15, it is conventional to provide the conveyor 13 consisting of a pair of separated rolls 24 and 25 and the endless belts or tapes 26. In accordance with usual construction, a pressure roll 27 cooperates with the first roll 24, and a suitable hold-down device 28 consisting of the floating balls 29 provides proper feeding of the sheets on the endless belts 26. The hold-down assembly 28 keeps the sheets on the endless belts or tapes but does not prevent longitudinal or transverse movement thereof.

It is, of course, now necessary to accurately align and register the sheets in both the transverse and longitudinal direction and transfer the registered sheets to the gripper roll =17 of the printing press in a fast and expedient manner. As explained previously, high rates of speeds are desirable and more conventional prior art equipment,

for registering and transferring the sheets to a printing press is usually inoperative at high speeds. In the present instance, these operations are carried by the trans verse registering device 14 and the longitudinal registering and transferring device 15.

Referring now to Figure 3 of the drawing wherein is shown the specific configuration of two devices 15 for registering and transferring the sheets to the gripper roll 17, it should be apparent that any suitable number of the devices 15 may be employed and in the following descrip tion, only one of the units is definitely recited while the other is of exactly the same construction. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a rigid frame consisting partially of the uprights 30 and 3-1 may be secured to the main housing of the printing press, not shown, so that the registering and transferring device may be mounted in fixed relation to the press. Rigidly secured to the ends of the brackets 32 and 33 which are in turn attached to suitable supports, not shown, and depending therefrom, are the identical cam and valving-plates 34 and 35, .each having an outer periphery as shown in Figures 4 and 9 of the drawing. Each of the cam plates 34 and 35 have a centrally disposed aperture 36 therein for thepassage of the shaft 37 which may be journaled in the bearings 38 and 39 secured to the uprights 30 and 3-1, respectively. As shown in Figure 4, the earns 34 and "35 have on their inner face an arcuate groove 40 which is concentric about the central aperture 36, and communicating with the space in the groove 40 is an aperture 41 which, in the case of the cam 34, is connected to a suction hose 43, While the aperture 41 associated with the cam 35 is connected to a compressed air hose 42.

Keyed to the shaft '37 and positioned inwardly of the cam and valving plates 34 and 35 are a pair of collars 45 and 46 each having a pair of circumferentially spaced apertures 47 therein, and it will be understood that the apertures of the collar 45 are axially aligned with the apertures in the collar 46.

Rotatably received in the apertures 47 are pins 55 of the front guide assemblies, one of which is shown in detail in Figures 68 of the drawing. Each front guide, herein designated by the numeral 56, comprises a body member 57 having an integral but projecting foot 58 having an aperture 52 therein and the air cylinder 59 carried on the forward face thereof. The piston rod 60 which extends through the air cylinder 59, and is adapted for vertical movement, carries the clamp 61 on the lower end thereof, the arrangement being such that when the clamp 61 is forced downwardly to cooperate with the foot 58, a sheet is firmly clamped for acceleration and transfer to the gripper roll of a printing press. Rigidly attached to the piston rod 60 intermediate the ends thereof is the piston 62 which is biased by the coil spring 63 to normally hold the clamp 61 in the retracted position.

The pin 55 is longitudinally tapped to form the bore- 64 while the body member 57 is vertically and transversely tapped to form the passageways .65 and '66, respectively, the ends of which are closed by plugs '67 and 68. Passageway 66 leads to the air cylinder '59 above the piston 62 so that air pressure may be delivered to the chamber from the air hose 42 through the apertures 40, 41, 64, 65 and 66, at a predetermine'dtime to force the clamp 61 into sheet engaging relation with the foot 58.

Because of the force needed to clamp the sheetduring the acceleration to thesynchronous :speed of the gripper roll, I contemplate providing auxiliary suction means operative to hold the sheetin registry and further help hold the sheet so as to prevent'movement in'the fclamp. This is accomplished in the present .instance by making the piston rod 60 from tubular stockithereby forming the opening 78 leading'to a suction port 71 in the base'of the clamp 61. An aperture 52 is provided :imthe foot "58 which is in alignment with thetubular :rod 60 to provide .sheet detecting means as will be further explained. To

supply suction to the suction port 71, the other end of the pin 55 is longitudinally tapped to form the .bore 72 while the body member 57'is vertically and transversely tapped to form the passageways 73 and 7.4, respectively, which are closed by plugs 75 and 76. Thertr'ansverse passageway 74 also extends through .a blocking ring 77.

to communicate with an elongated'opening .78 in the side of the piston rod 60. When a sheet covers'the opening 52, suction is supplied to the .o'pening 70fmm-thesuction hose 43 through the apertures '40, '41, 72, 73, 74 and 78, to hold the sheet in position for apredetermined time. A cap 79 is rigidly secured to the top of the air cylinder 59 to prevent the escape of the suction'to'thesurrounding air and it should be understoo'd that the thickness-of the blocking plate 77 and the length of the opening 78 is such that the compressed air and suction .passagewaysxare effectively blocked from each-other atall times.

The aperture 52 in the foot 58 is providedfor sheet detection. One of the mainpproblems in.the:printing art is the provision of means for detecting 'the :passage of a skewed or misaligned sheet whereby-the feeder .canfbe shut down until the defectivesheet *isacleared .fromcthe press. Also, the feeder must be stopped ifno sheet is available to pass into the printing press; I;accomplish this detection by pneumatic means including a .plunger valve, not shown, which is inserted:in'the:suction.supply line 43 and is operative to energize means for stopping the feeder when the suctio'n is relieved therefrom. b-

viously, the only time suction isvnot maintained is when the edge of a sheet is not covering theitop of the aperture 52. Therefore, when the sheet is misaligned ;or :does not reach the front guides, the feeder is-shut idown.

Each of the front guide-assemblies hasxazrigidly attached normal arm 80 mounting atritsrouter-end a roller 81 which is adapted to ride on the peripheral .cam surface of one of the cam plates 34-or 3,5. A spring '82 is :pro-

vided for each of the front guide assemblies :to ,pivotally bias the same so that the rollers 81 .are always in contact with the cam surfaces of the plates :34 .;or.35. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention 61 provide rtwo ,plates 34 and 35 and two mountingcollars 45 and 46 for each device with one of the rollers 81 'ridingson each of the cam plates. It should be understood, however, that this is not the only feasible means for mountingthe front guides 56 as it is entirely'possible-to' use only one;

cam plate, 34 for example, with both :of the rollers 81 riding thereon. Of course, someother-valving arrangement for the suction and air would be needed andithis :could be accomplished by providing double-walled supply conduit for air and suction. In this manner the duplicationof parts is eliminated although :theifront guides 56 would haveto be designed to meetthe above'described.

requirements as is apparent. .In any case, however, the

,frontguides 56 would be rotatably carried .directlyop posite each other ononeof Lthemountingmollars. r

(Considering now the motion that is imparted z'to ithe front guide ir'egistering andtransferring devices 56 ibyihe cam plates34and35 and the rotary motionof thecollars and 46, it should be remembered that in'the present greatly increase the velocity of the front guides during 'a predetermined portion of their rotary motion. As'a consequence, the radially outward directed front guide :assemblies 56 will have a-complex pattern of motion depending on the instantaneousrelative position and motion of the follower rollers 81 and the pins 55. In Figure "9 I show an enlarged viewof thecam marked withcerta'in indicia which refer to specific parts of the cam surface and an arrow depicting the direction of rotation of the front guide 'assemblies 56. Assuming that one of fthe front guides is in a position where the :cam 'follower 81 is at A and the collars '45 and 46 are being rotated, the foot58 will be forced circumferentially at'aconstant velocity. This will'continue until the rollerreachespoint B where the slope of the peripheral edge of the cam becomesnoticeably steeper, thus causing the foot 'to move downwardly at an increased rate of speed until point'Cis reached and the slope of the cam approaches zero. Be-

ginning at this point the velocity of the front guide in the horizontal direction is substantially reduced until the point D is reached by the roller '81. Upon arriving at point D the roller 81 experiences a reverse indirection that completely arrests all horizontal movement of the front guide while the roller is moving from 'D to B. At E, the peripheral shape of the cam again changes so that the front guide is again moved toward the gripper roll of the printing press at a relatively small velocity until F 'is reached, -;and at this point, another dwell;is evidenced which stops all horizontal movement of the front guide while the roller 81 is between the-stations F to G. It is noted that the length of thedwell from F to G is longer than that encountered from D toE for a reason that will be'explained when considering the operation of the as semb'led apparatus. Upon arriving at pointG, the roller again experiences a change in direction as the cam 'surface assumes a very sharp slope and the radially outward component of movement of the front guide is arrested and transformed to rotational movement, thus causing 'the guide to be immediately accelerated to a much higher velocity than that originally imparted at A as the roller moves past the point H to I where the slope of thecam changes gradually until at I the peripheral edge of "the cam has arrested the increasedcincremen't of velocity of thefront guide and thus restored it to thesame velocity as when the roller was at the point A. By continued rotation of "the collars 45 and 46 the roller81 is returned to station A at a constant velocity because the radius of thecam is equal at all points between I and A going in 1 the counterclockwise direction. This pattern-of irregular motion imparted to the front guide assemblies 56 is graphically depicted in Figure 10 where the po'sition of the follower roll 81 has been roughly plotted against the velocity of the front guide foot 58. The utility of the movement of the front guide assemblies for registering and transferring sheets to a press will become apparent upon further consideratio'n of the specification.

As indicated above, in the illustrated embodiment of the present invention the shaft 37 is rotating at a constant speed while the cam plates 34and 35 remain stationary with respect thereto. In a preferred modification I of the present invention it may be desirable and necessary to oscillate the cam plates 34 and 35 with respect .to

the shaft 37 thereby providing a double cam actio'n. In.

doing this the cams would be rotated in a clockwise direction (see Figure 9) as the follower 81 is moving between the'points G and I in order that the speed of the foot 58 can 'be increased greatly in a very short distance. The cams would then be rocked back in'to original 'pori tion before the other front guide 56 approaches the point G. This type of operation would require means to oscillate the cams as well as a slightly different cam shape as the dwell at G would not need to be quite so severe. However, this could also be accomplished by camming the shaft 37 so it would have periods of alternately higher and lower angular velocities during each revolution thereof to impart increased velocity to the front guide assemblies during transfer of the sheet to the gripper roll 17.

Referring now to Figure 3, and in particular to the construction of the gripper roll 17 which is supported below and in fixed relation to the registering and transferring device 15 by means of the axle 86, there are provided, as is conventional in the printing art, a number of grippers 87 aligned transversely and spaced along the outer periphery of the roll, mounted by means, designated schematically by the through rod 88, whereby the grippers 87 may be opened or closed in a fast and expedient manner. Itis essential that the grippers 87 be spaced at points intermediate and to the sides of the registering and transferring devices 15 so as not to interfere therewith as the sheets are being transferred to the gripper roll 17.

In order to effect proper side or transverse registry of the conveyed sheets, I conventionally provide a laterally adjustable guide member 89 positioned along one side of the conveyor 13 and properly positioned laterally with respect to the press for insuring the lateral alignment of the sheets prior to and during entry into the printing press. The side registering device 14 comprises the novel arrangement including a pair of suction wheels 90 and 91, one on each side of the sheet pass line of the conveyor 13 so as to contact respectively with the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet being carried to the press. In the preferred and illustrated embodiment of the invention (Figure 2) the suction wheels 90 and 91 are driven at high speeds by the shafts 92 which are journaled in slides 93 in order that the suction wheels may be shifted laterally as desired for obtaining the best operating results for any given paper stock. The wheels 90 and 91 have a plurality of radial apertures which communicate with the valving members 94 and conduits 95 to a suitable supply of suction, not shown. A variable relief valve, also not shown, is interposed between the valving member 94 and the source of suction which is operative to apply initially a maximum suction to the wheels 90 and 91 and then limit the application of the suction as the sheet being aligned approachesthe guide 89 to prevent buckling and skewing of the sheets being registered. This valve, and mode of operation thereof, is detailed in my co-pending application Serial No. 392,110, filed November 16, 1953.

In the operation of the sheet registering and transferring system disclosed herein, it is assumed that the front guides 56 are rotating so that the various apertures and slots in the cam plates 34 and 35 and the collars 45 and 46 are aligned to supply suction and compressed air to operate the front guide clamping mechanism at certain times while the collars 45 and 46 are being rotated by the shaft'37 at a constant'speed and the overlapped or streamfed sheets are moved along the conveyor at a high rate of speed. At an appropriate time, one of the front guide assemblies 56 in being moved around the earns 34 and 35 at a constant velocity, and the roller 81 is at the position A on the outer peripheral edge of the cams with the clamp 61 in the retracted position.' As the roller travels between B and C, thevertical movement of the front guide assembly is greatly accelerated to move the guide into position with respect to the line of sheet travel. After the roller 81 reaches the point C, and while traveling to D, the horizontal velocity of the front guide is arrested so that the sheet may catch up with, and abut against the body member 57, thereby elfecting partial or pre-registration in the longitudinal direction as the tapes or endless belts 26 will push the front-edge of the paper into registry. When the roller is traveling from the point D to E, all horizontal movement of the front guide is stopped, and during this time, suction is applied to the suction wheels and 91 to rapidly force the sheet against the side guide 89 thereby completing preregistration. The sheet is then moved forward toward the printing press wlu'le the roller is traversing the distance between the points E and F at a relative low velocity (see the graph in Figure 10) in order that final registration in the longitudinal direction may be completed in much the same manner as the pre-registration operation. Next, the front guides are again stopped by virtue of the shape of the cam between the points F and G, and suction is again applied to the suction wheels 98 and 91 to finish the final registration of the sheet. During this station,'after final registration has taken place, but the roller 81 is still between the points F and G, the pin 55 is being rotated into such a position that it is aligned with the grooves 40 in the cam and valving plates, so that suction and compressed air is applied through the various passageways to hold the sheet and move the clamp 61 into clamping relation with the foot 58 thereby gripping the forward edge of the sheet in a fast and expedient manner. It may be desirable to apply the suction a very short time before the air is released, or the converse, and it should be understood this may be controlled by the circumferential disposition of the various slots and grooves in the valving plates as is readily apparent. With the sheet registered and clamped, the roller 81 passes over point G and starts moving toward H, causing the front guide and the clamped sheet to be rapidly accelerated so that by the time the roller has reached the point H, the sheet has obtained the same speed as the gripper roll 17 of the printing press. At this instant, the grippers 87 of the gripper roll 17 are closed on the forward edge of the sheet while the clamps 61 are being retracted, and suction is cut off by virtue of the fact that the pin 55 has moved out of alignment with the various grooves and apertures in the cam plates. For instant release of the sheet held by the front guide, suitable valving may be provided between the compressed air and suction sources so at the time of release, suction is supplied to the conduit 42 while compressed air is transmitted through the hose 43. The sheet is then moved into the printing press by the gripper roll 17 but the velocity of the front guides remains constant as the roller 81 moves past the point H until I is reached so that the front guides will be swifty moved out of interfering relation with the gripper roll. After the roller 81 passes the point I, the velocity of the guide at point A is reached and the'front guideis then returned into position for engaging another sheet being fed by the conveyor 13.

It is necessary to accurately and precisely synchronize all the component parts of the feeding and registering systems used with printing presses and other like equipment. This is' particularly true when the apparatus is operated at extremely high speeds and it is contemplated that the'speed of the shaft 37 will be controlled through suitable mechanism by the speed of rotation of the gripper roll 17, and this in turn will be operative to determine and regulate the speed and actuation of the appurtenant feeding and registering equipment. In this manner, the sheets'will always be pre-registered, finally registered, and transferred to the gripper roll of the press at the proper rate of speed without the possibility of the apparatus becoming unsynchronized and thus jamming the press. 7 Also, it is desirable to provide conventional means for detecting and shutting down the press when a double thickness of sheets tries to pass through the press.

It should thus be apparent that I have accomplished the objects initially set forth by providing a new and novel registering and transferring system for printing 9 'ventionaldevices advanced in the prior artin order +that 'full advantage may be takenof the capacities of feeding systems and the printing presses.

One aspect of the present invention relates to'the fact that the sheets are subjected to two completely 'independent registering operations'priorto entering the press; Thesheet first undergoes a pre-registration which'completes any large movement'of the sheet and substantially aligns the sheet with the printing plate. Thesecond regis- -tration operation, or final registration, then takes place 'tocomplete precise alignment of the sheet with theprinting plate prior to transferring the same'to thepress.

Another important feature of my invention is theprovision of front guides and head registering and-transferring devices which have predominantly rotary' or uni-directional movement as distinguished from reciprocating movement which has characterized many of the-devices advanced in the prior art- The devices are-also provided with novel means for controlling the instantaneous relative movement of the front guides. The movement of the front guides is specifically designed to accommodate the sheets at a maximum rate of speed but yet allow proper registry and transfer which insures an acceptable final product.

Yet another aspect of the invention is the provision of novel clamping and suction means, comprising suction and compressed air operated mechanisms, for holding the-front edge of a sheet after ithas "been registered .during'the fast acceleration necessary to 'bringthe speed .of the sheet in synchronism with the speed of the gripper roll prior to being transferred to 'thesame. The 'clamping and holding mechanisms are an integral part of the front guide assemblies which is especially useful since the clamps depend upon the proper positioning of the guides before actuation thus precluding any possibility of mis- I alignment.

Having thus described certain representative embodiments of my invention, in which many changes may be made without departing fromthe scope or spirit of the invention, what I claim as new and novel and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: v

I claim:

1. In a sheet registering and transferring'device of the type comprising a carrier mounted for rotation about a central axis, a plurality of outwardly and radially extending front guides mounted on said carrier in circumferentially spaced relation, said front guides carrying clamping and holding means for sheets, and means to periodically energize said holding and said clamping means; the improvement in said last mentioned means comprising a pair of separate passageways in said front guides, at least one cam plate positioned to the side of said carriers adjacent thereto, said cam plate having an elongated arcuate groove therein adapted to register with said passageways duringa predetermined portion of the circular path thereof, the arrangement being such that compressed air and suction is supplied to said passageways when said cam groove is in registry therewith,

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 further characterized by each of said front guides carrying an air cylinder having a piston and a piston rod, said clamping and holding means rigidly secured on one end of said piston rod, said compressed air passageway comunicating with said air cylinder, the arrangement being such that said clamp is forced into sheet engaging position when said groove and passageways are aligned, and said suction passageway opening into a suction port in the bottom of said holding and clamping means to further clamp the sheet.

3. A sheet registering system comprising means to move sheets from apile, and devices for registering said sheets prior to transferring the same to a gripper cylinder; the improvement in said last mentioned devices comprising a pair of rotating suction wheels disposed transverselyv above and below the path of sheet travel arranged to engage the upper and lower surfaces respectively of a sheet, said "enema-o wheels operative to apply suction-to said-sheet whereby said 'sheetis forced toward side guide means, means "to reduce said suction as said sheet approaches said side guide means, a front guide and transfer device consisting of a plurality of radially and outwardly extending arms rotated-about a common axis, means for modifying the circumferential motion of said arms to a predetermined path, said modifying means operative to stop the motion of said arms during at least one portion of said predetermined path thereby allowing said'sheet to a'but'thereagainst, said suction applied to said wheels when said sheet is abutted against said arms and said-modifying means being operative tomove-said sheet at a high spee'd and transfer the same to a gripper cylinder.

4. A sheet'registen'ng and transferring system for rnoving sheets to a gripper cylinder having means to-engage the forward edge of the sheets comprising a'pair-of'suction wheels disposed transversely above. and below the path-of 'sheet travel arranged to apply suction tothe upper and lower surfaces of said sheets, means to reduce said su'ction 'as a sheet approaches proper sideregistry, 'a'plurality of front guides having a predetermined pattern o'f 'circumferential motion, said path of motion arresting the horizontal movement of asid guides duringone station thereby allowing said sheet to abut thereagainst, said suction applied to said wheels during said station =thereby' causing pre-registration, said path of motion operative 'to stop the horizontal movement of said guides during another station, said suction wheels operative to register said sheet in the transverse direction thereby completing'final registration, clamp and holding means carried 'by.-said guides operative to engage the forward edge of said sheet during said second station, and saidpath of motion operative to move said sheet while clamped at a high speed,

said high speed approaching the synchronous speed ofv said gripper cylinder, and means to retract said clamp and holding means when said sheet is engaged by said grippers of said gripper cylinder.

. 5. A sheet registering and transferring device having a gripper cylinder, a plurality of grippers aligned transversely along the outer periphery of said cylinder, means for opening and closing said grippers, a plurality of outwardly extending front guides in circumferentially spaced and radially outwardly extending pattern, means for rotating said front guides about a common axis thereby imparting rotary or uni-directional movement thereto, said axis disposed above and aligned with said gripper cylinder whereby said front guides extend in cooperating relation with said gripper cylinder and said grippers during a portion of said movement, means positioned radially outward of said axis to individually modify the rotary motion of of said front guides during another portion of said movement, said acceleration approaching the synchronous speed of said gripper, and the arrangement being such that a registered sheet is transferred to said gripper cylinder when said front guides reach the speed of said cylinder.

6. A sheet feeding and transferring device comprising a plurality of outwardly extending front guides in a circumferentially spaced and radially outwardly extending pattern, means for rotating said front guides about a centrally disposed axis, means for rotating said front guides about individual axes positioned radially outward of said centrally disposed axis, means to oscillate said means for rotating said front guides about individual axes whereby said front guides are caused to move with a predetermined pattern of motion, clamping means carried by said front guides, and means to actuate said clamping means at predetermined tirnes during said predetermined pattern of motion.

7. 'A' sheet feeding and transferring device comprising a plurality of outwardly extending front guides in a ci r means for rotating said front guides about a centrally disposed axis, means for rotating said front guides about individual axes positioned radially outward of said centrally disposed axis, means to change the velocity of said means for rotating said front guides about a centrally disposed axis whereby the angular velocity of said means for rotating about said axis is alternately increased and decreased according to a predetermined pattern during each revolution thereof, clamping means carried by said front guides, and means to actuate said clamping means at predetermined times during the motion of said front guides.

8. In a sheet registering and transferring device of the type for feeding sheets to a printing press or other like equipment comprising a carrier mounted for rotation about a central axis, a plurality of outwardly and radially extending front guides mounted on said carrier in circumferentially spaced relation, said front guides carrying clamping and holding means for said sheets; each of said front'guides comprising an air cylinder having a piston and a piston rod, a clamping member secured to the end of said piston rod, a suction port in said clamping member, an aperture in said front guide opposite said suction port, means to supply suction to said suction port, and means interposed in said means to supply suction for stopping said press or other like equipment when suction is relieved therefrom, the arrangement being such that when a sheet does not cover said aperture the suction is relieved from said means interposed to stop said registering and transferring device.

9. Apparatus for transferring the leading end portions of successive sheets advancing longitudinally in a printengaged by and to clamp the leading end portions of the advancing sheets and mounted for general rotational .movement about an axis generallyparallel to the axis of rotation of said cylinder and positioned on the opposite side of the path of sheet travel from said cylinder, means to eifect said general rotational movement of said guide and clamp, arresting means operative simultaneously with said means to effect said general rotational movement to momentarily arrest longitudinal movement of said guide and clamp along said path of sheet travel synchronously with the rotational position of said cylinder, and means operative synchronously with said arresting means to open and close said clamp, the arrangement being such that during the transferring cycle of an advancing sheet the guide and open clamp arrive at a position ahead of said advancing sheet ina decelerated condition whereby the leading end portion of said sheet moves into the clamp and against the guide after which said clamp is closed and said guide and clamp areaccelerated to positively advance said leading end portion of said sheet into said grippers of said cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,728,328 Broadmeyer Sept. 17, 1929 2,052,526 Broadmeyer Aug. 25, 1936 2,699,941 Huck et al Jan. 18, 1955 2,714,006 Layden July 26, 1955 

